Recreational vehicles, both towed and self-contained, travel about the country and a typically parked in camp-grounds. When parked and occupied, ingress and egress of the recreational vehicle is generally through a door in the side of the vehicle. Stairs at the door are usually required because of the terrain on which the vehicle is parked and the height of the vehicle floor from the ground. Although stairs are usually provided with the recreational vehicle, hand rails are not, and those provided are often times a vertical handle attached to the exterior of the recreational vehicle. Such a vertical handle does not generally extend sufficiently far from the side of the recreational vehicle to provide assistance to a person using the stairs. Thus, a need exists for providing a hand rail assembly that extends the length of the stairs for use therewith. Such a hand rail assembly may be separate from the vehicle—requiring construction placement adjacent to the door of the vehicle before it can be used—or affixed to the exterior of the recreational vehicle.
An additional consideration regarding the use of a hand rail assembly affixed to a recreational vehicle is that the recreational vehicle must conform to the width requirements for vehicles traveling on highways. Many times, the recreational vehicles are near the width limit such that any equipment on the exterior of the vehicle must not protrude very far from the vehicle. Therefore, any hand rail assembly affixed to the recreational vehicle must be retractable from the extended position so that the hand rail assembly can be stored against the recreational vehicle during travel. Thus, a need exists for providing a hand rail assembly that is affixed to the recreational vehicle and that can be moved between a storage position, retracted against the exterior of the vehicle, and an operating position, extending from the vehicle.
Folding hand rails have been previously disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,550 discloses a handrail structure mountable to the exterior of a trailer home. One end of the handrail is pivotally connected to the trailer and the opposite end of the handrail is free. A brace pivotally connected to the trailer fits into a channel integral to the handrail. The brace slides within the channel for movement of the free end of the handrail between a retracted position and an extended position. The brace is lockable within the slide by a wing screw to keep the handrail in the desired position. To position the handrail, the handrail must be held in position while the wing-screw is loosened. Then, the handrail is moved to a second position and again held, manually, in the desired position while the wing-screw is tightened. Thus, to operate the hand rail requires the use of both hands and/or two people and the persons' fingers are placed in danger of being caught within “pinch-points” of the handrail structure.
Other foldable hand rails have been suggested, for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,029,352 and 5,024,420, that disclose different types of adjustable braces for supporting the handrail in an extending position. These inventions also require manual manipulation of a locking system to place and lock the adjustable braces in the desired position. Such manipulation may not be easily performed by one person and, again, creates “pinchpoints” with which persons manipulating the hand rail assemblies may be injured.
Another foldable hand rail invention is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,934, which attaches a lower end of an expandable hand rail to foldable stairs. The hand rail expands as the stairs are extended and retracts when the stairs are retracted. The disadvantage of such an invention is that the angle of the hand rail may be too slight or too steep to be of use, especially for people with limited mobility. Further, the hand rail is dependent on the operation of stairs attached to the recreational vehicle. If the recreational vehicle does not include foldable stairs, or if the stairs are inoperable, then the hand rail cannot be expanded.
Another disadvantage of the inventions discussed above is that none of the previous hand rails are self-illuminated whenever the hand rail structure is extended to provide illumination of the hand rail and surrounding area, including the stairs and door, at times of reduced visibility. Thus, an external light source is required to safely traverse the stairs, either attachable to the recreational vehicle or hand held, which presents additional problems. Further, any external light source must be manually activated, which may not be possible if the actuator for the external light source is located inside the recreational vehicle and a person is trying to use the stairs and hand rail external to the recreational vehicle.
Thus, it is desirable to have a hand rail assembly that is retractable for placing into a storage position and extendible into an operating position and that overcomes the above discussed disadvantages.